Ramblings and doodlings of an unsettled mind!

Fourth Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad could be mistaken in his opinion about Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak could be arrested by Interpol for money laundering, when the latter travels abroad.

Pro-Anwarista news portal story:

Najib risks arrest if he travels abroad, says Dr Mahathir

BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Published: 20 September 2015 9:51 AM
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has drawn a grim picture on the possibility of Datuk Seri Najib Razak being arrested by Interpol if foreign countries investigate the prime minister for alleged money laundering.
“He could also be arrested if he left the country. So he has to remain here, like how he withdrew the passports of some people and barred them from going overseas,” the statesman said in a video uploaded on the blog “Din Turtle”.

The longest-serving prime minister said this during a meeting with Kumpulan Melayu Berani Bersatu at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur on Friday afternoon.

Dr Mahathir said domestic laws were applicable only if crimes were committed locally.
“But if a crime has some connection with a foreign country, that nation has power (to investigate and prosecute),” he said.

Dr Mahathir cited the fate of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir who is now wanted by International Criminal Court to stand trial on various charges such as the genocide in Darfur.

The United Nations says the court’s warrant for Omar must be implemented by countries who have signed the Rome Statute.

“He (Omar) could be arrested if the country he was visiting concurred with the alleged crime,” Dr Mahathir said.

He said if countries like Switzerland, England and the United States believe that Najib had allegedly been involved in money laundering, they could enlist Interpol to arrest him.

Dr Mahathir also felt Najib would not resign but only through possibility of prosecution outside Malaysia.

Najib has come under intense criticism over the financial scandals surrounding state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad and for receiving RM2.6 billion in political donations.

“That is only a possibility based on the current international law,” he added.

Former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan was reported to have travelled to countries in Europe and Asia to push for investigations over alleged discrepancies of debt-ridden 1MDB.

Najib is chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board.

The Umno man handed over evidence to the Swiss authorities on August 20 and urged them to investigate the state investment arm’s activities involving Swiss and international banks.

He insisted that he only acted in the country’s best interests.

Khairuddin was scheduled to meet agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US on Monday but found last Friday that a travel ban had been imposed on him.

He was arrested by police for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government. Police have obtained a six-day remand against him.

The Wall Street Journal today reported that the FBI has started investigations into allegations of money laundering. – September 20, 2015.

Dr M claims global money-laundering probes could open PM to arrest

Sunday September 20, 2015
11:13 AM GMT+8
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 ― Ongoing investigations by foreign countries into alleged money-laundering activities linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) may open the prime minister to arrest abroad if any wrongdoing is proven, according to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Speaking at a meeting with an NGO named Kumpulan Melayu Berani Bersatu on Friday, Dr Mahathir said that there was a “possibility” that such a scenario could happen.

“Those countries ― Switzerland, Britain, America ― if they find Najib doing any money laundering (activities) they can ask Interpol to arrest him if he goes overseas.

“So he (Najib) has to remain here, like how he withdrew the passports of some people and barred them from going overseas,” the said in a video uploaded on the blog “Din Turtle”.

Dr Mahathir added that domestic laws were applicable only if crimes were committed locally.

“But if a crime has some connection with a foreign country, that nation has power (to investigate and prosecute),” he added, citing the case of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir as an example.

Omar is now wanted by International Criminal Court to stand trial on genocide charges in Darfur.

The former prime minister did not, however, specify how the probes abroad were linked directly to Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States is now probing entities connected to 1MDB over alleged money-laundering activities in the country, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported today citing an anonymous source.

But the immediate subject of the FBI investigation is not currently known.

The WSJ pointed out, however, that its previous report alleging that US$700 million (RM2.9 billion) was funnelled into PM Najib’s accounts involved two deposits made via US banks, a Swiss international bank and Wells Fargo in New York.

The US investigation on 1MDB is the latest announce by a foreign country, following reports of probes in Switzerland, the SAR of Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.

The probes were reportedly prompted by reports lodged by former Umno leader and 1MDB critic Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who was arrested on Friday and remanded for another six days yesterday.

The WSJ has published a series of reports detailing dubious activity allegedly involving 1MDB, beginning with an exposé in July on the US$700 million deposit in Najib’s accounts.

Najib has denied any impropriety over the US$700 million donation, which was described as a political donation to the Umno party that he heads.

The fact is that under the international law, the Head of State and Head of Government enjoys the immunity blanket from prosecutionrationae materiae (Functional immunity).

The case that Tun Dr. Mahathir cited, which is against President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, is about genocide in Darfur. That is crime against humanity.

The International Criminal Court which was mentioned by the Fifth UMNO President is incepted to try four types of international crimes; genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

It is also four these hedious crimes where the nation that the leader resides or rule is unable to take them, to face the law.

Malaysia is neither a signatory to the treaty of the ICC nor the Rome Statute.

It is believed that this was mentioned, in line with persons closely associated to Tun Dr. Mahathir, former Politcal Secretary Matthias Chang and former Batu Kawan UMNO Vice Chief Khairuddin Hassan were recently barred from leaving the country.

It is also believed that Khairuddin was on his way to New York, to meet FBI agents with regards to alleged crimes committed by Prime Minister Najib.

The duo have been busy travelling to several European countries lately and attempting to meet law enforcement officials, in their sordid agenda to build cases against Prime Minister Najib pertaining to 1MDB and the so called ‘donation’, from yet to be named individual from West Asia.

Regardless, Tun Dr. Mahathir could be misleading some of the hopefuls to watch Prime Minister Najib be ousted by an arrest when the latter is abroad.

It is misleading statements like this that would confuse the public more. The arrest would not happen and the Malaysian public perception view the leadership would spiral towards more chronic confusion.

It would not be good for the nation, which is having tough challenges to weather the current economic crisis.

True, DS Najib is protected by diplomatic immunity every time he travels abroad. And he must be using a diplomatic passport every time he is overseas. And the ICC handles only crimes against humanity.

Clearly, Tun Dr Mahathir just wanted to emphasize the fact that the 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion credited to his personal accounts created the perception that Najib has committed serious crimes.

That Najib has largely been silent on those issues has not helped. That the Attorney General Gani Petail was suddenly removed from office without valid and justifiable reasons (the health reason has been doubted by the pubkic), the PAC ceasing to function and MACC and Police Officers got sudden transfers worsened the perception.

Waiting for the next Parliamentary session where the PAC may be expected to be reconstituted and the end of the year for the Auditor General’s Final Report on 1 MDB may be too long for many people. There should be a systematic programme to explain again and again the 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion.

Use all the information disseminating machinery of the Government under DS Salleh Said Keruak. He has appeared keen to explain when assuming his Ministerial post. Never mind repeats of the information, as the public comprises people with all levels of capacity to understand and comprehend.

Shouldn’t those who accuse the RM2.6b ‘gift’ is actually parts of monies due or from 1MDB, provide and substantiate evidence first?

There are so many wild allegations and non of them have been proven. Just allegations on top of more allegations, echoed here and there through media and speeches but no proofs.

Especially through international media like WSJ and NYT.

Yet, all demand that PM Najib “Must explain”.

Is that how it works, one alleged something but instead of substantiating the allegations to make a case, the one who is being alleged is demanded to explain and defend himself, based on unsubstantianted allegations that have been echoed, perpetrated and manipulated so many times over?

It’s heartening to see many comments in here showing a discussion and debate going on and that democracy is alive and well.

Politics is perception and perception stems from curiosity. The moment people read 1MDB ran into billions of debt or DS Najib receiving such a humongous sum of RM2.6 billion in his personal bank accounts, people want to know what and why. Delays in explaining add to curiosity.

The public – at various levels of ability to understand and comprehend – simply cannot be blamed for being curious. Politicians need to explain to a satisfactory level if they want votes. What can be deemed satisfactory may be discussed. The best judge would be a general election but it’s unwitting to just whack the public in various ways while waiting for PRU14.

When people ask questions, they should not be deemed accusing. Of course the Opposition political parties and their supporters have been known to be making “wild, unsubstantiated and unjustified accusations” but very many really “innocent members of the public” merely ask to know.

The crucial thing for politicians and Najib’s supporters to note is that many of the “innocent” are supporters of UMNO/BN and sincerely want UMNO/BN to continue ruling forever. There is no need to offend them at all. Just explain and explain, without being confrontational.

WSJ and NYT must be treated and discussed separately – separate from the curiosity of the average Malaysian members of the public and voters. WSJ and NYT have a different agenda, that which may want to put the Malaysian Government down. If not Jewish Zionist agenda, they certainly want to publish news that will bolster their sales.

Najib had done the right thing by asking them, through his lawyers, to “explain”. But nothing has been heard after WSJ’s and NYT’s lawyers had “explained”. That caused more curiosity among the Malaysian public. Again, the Malaysian public must not be blamed for their increased curiosity.

But, for the average “innocent” Malaysian, the job to explain is not theirs but Najib’s, the Government’s and UMNO’s. And it’d be futile to argue who are “innocent”, who are not. The time would definitely be better spent in explaining to the voters as PRU14 is very near as far as the “uninvolved” and “innocent” observers and voters are concerned.

Najib’s supporters who are interested in defending him should identify his “detractors” by groups and plan a sustained, systematic and coordinated approach of explaining, attacking and whacking, depending on the seriousness of the threat to Najib’s position. The groups include a) the average, curious non-partisan citizen who may be vocal or among “the silent majority”, b) the partisan and loudly vocal ones in the so-called Anwar-associated news portals, c) the Opposition political parties.

a) needs explanations, b) needs attacking and c) needs whacking, as they are the incorrigibles.

Investors look out for legal and business law system, resources, competency of skilled employees, upstream and downstream distribution and channel networks, tax and other non tariff incentives and the convenience of obtaining documentation when they export or import and repatriate monies.

As for political stability, in South East Asia Malaysia is the second most sound political and parliamentary system and the consistency of a continuous ruling government with extended policies especially with regards to trade and capital and financial markets, are the strong points.

If you want to talk about investments, trade and market confidence, then based on the real issues. The sort which MIDA and other investment banks and boutique investment firms deal everyday. The very issues sorted by IRDA, ECER and NCIA when they go around the globe.

Eg. So many international interested parties in TRX and Bandar Malaysia. Both are within 1MDB and it seems whatever so many trying to echo doesn’t resonate well with these investors.

Time is PM Najib’s most powerful element in getting this right, in time for 14GE.

findings of the study seem to indicate that they do care about politics.

On September 22, 2015 at 09:01 Zen said:

Txs kenacendol for giving the link to indicate that investors do care about politics.

And Platea480 for telling that the new Australian PM was asking “With all the to-ing and fro-ing in Malaysian politics .. is everything hunky-dory on the investments scene?” And “MIDA, IRDA, MITI etc – what, exactly, is the message they are bringing to outside investors? The message that will justify Malaysia as a preferred investment location with “stability” in all areas and no “flip-flops”?

The following is an opposition news portal Malaysian Insider’s report but can anyone deny it as incorrect?

Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said today that the ringgit is expected to start recovering once issues surrounding 1MDB are resolved. Zeti was quoted as saying, “”They (the ongoing investigations) are going to yield an outcome,”

On September 22, 2015 at 09:13 Zen said:

Speculative or not, the fact remains that the issues are there, such that even the new Australian PM made unfavourable comments.

Investors do not rely only on what IRDA, ECER and NCIA tell them for their investment decisions. Many resort to well-respected investment consultants. Some of them even have offices in this country.

[…] If there’s one thing I will not stand for, it’s Malaysians who go running to foreign authorities to undermine their own people back home, claiming that they’d exhausted all avenues for recourse locally. That was why I could not support Hindraf, Bersih, and MCLM, to name a few, or when the Opposition went overseas purportedly to get anti-graft authorities there to arrest their political foes government instead of putting thier trust in our own MACC. I’m all for Malaysians abroad like Bakri Musa and (more recently) RPK who make it their part time job to criticize the country and her leaders in their writings and speeches when they could have enjoyed their haze-free days and Umnoless lives. Theirs, no matter how harsh and blunt, are constructive criticisms and not acts of sabotage. But Khairuddin, he’s never known for being critical of anything. Until his police report against the 1MDB late last year, he was an obscure local Umno leader in Opposition-ruled Penang remembered for his notorious role as the publisher of the 50 Dalil book that helped bring down Anwar Ibrahim, then the Deputy Prime Minister, for abuse of power and sodomy. In the past weeks, Khairuddin has lodged reports against PM Najib Razak in the UK, Switzerland, France and Hong Kong. This week he was supposed to have flown to the US to get the FBI to investigate Najib and 1MDB for money laundering or stuff like that. Stuff which, accoridng to Dr M, could lead to Najib’s arrest once he leaves Malaysia. […]

New Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull – “today we are forming a government for the 21st century” (Channel NewsAsia news broadcast this afternoon).

With all the to-ing and fro-ing in Malaysian politics with the constant emphasis on race and religion, is anyone in the Cabinet giving serious thought on how to position the country for the 21st century?

And is everything hunky-dory on the investments scene?

It appears that most of the investments going into Iskandar Malaysia, for instance, are property-related.

So too in the Klang Valley and Penang.

Where are the investments in leading-edge technologies that will provide “jobs of the future” for young Malaysians?

Without productivity-led growth in wages, how is Malaysia going to transition from developing to developed country status?

MIDA, IRDA, MITI etc – what, exactly, is the message they are bringing to outside investors? The message that will justify Malaysia as a preferred investment location with “stability” in all areas and no “flip-flops”?

Article 31(1) that
“[a] diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State. He shall also enjoy immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction, except in the case of:
(a) a real action relating to private immovable property situated in the territory of the receiving State, unless he holds it on behalf of the sending State for the purposes of the mission;
(b) an action relating to succession in which the diplomatic agent is involved as executor, administrator, heir or legatee as a private person and not on behalf of the sending State;
(c) an action relating to any professional or commercial activity exercised by the diplomatic agent in the receiving State outside his official functions.”

The people are with Tun M and they are not confused. The weak economy that Malaysia is experiencing now is partly an international spill over effect , but largely due to bad govt economic policies like 6%gst and credit crunch on individuals and households . These policies hurt domestic consumption badly and that was further wrecked by the massive fall in value of ringgit . The govt kept saying the fundamentals are strong. How can ringgit and KLCI take huge tumbles and massive erosion of foreign reserves if fundamentals are strong. A building doesnt collapse on its structure. If it does there is something very wrong. Malaysia suffers from crisis of investors confidence triggered by issues like 1MDB , the rm2.6bn deposited into Najib’s personal account , the detention of civil servants and AG doing investigation on abovemetioned issues. It all have the hallmark of a corrupt and undemocratic regime afraid of something which only it knows. The public has the right to scrutinise leaders and govt elected by them. If the domestic agencies are slow to do anything, it is probably divine intervention that US, HK, Singapore and Switzerland are doing it to get to the truth.

[…] have even casted the wrong perception about Prime Minister Najib would probably be arrested when he travels abroad, especially to the United Kingdom and United States and tried by International Criminal […]

[…] Khairuddin barred from leaving the country, investigated and was arrested under SOSMA (2012) in mid September 2015 for this acts to make reports to law enforcement authorities against Prime Minister Najib. Later, he was charged under Section 124L of the Penal Code for sabotaging the Malaysian financial and banking system. […]

[…] For instance, many actually bought in on falsehood of the various ‘Foreign authorities’ investigations on the mult-idimensional scandals of 1MDB’. Even “He (PM Najib) might be arrested if he travels abroad and would be tried by ICJ”. […]